January 4, 2008

Nets push back move to Brooklyn until 2010

After the Bergen Record story ran yesterday, The Star-Ledger called up a seemingly exasperated Ratner spokesperson, who explained that they already explained this delay away:

"We said three weeks ago we plan to be playing in the Barclays Center during the 2010 calendar year," Baum said, alluding to a New York Times story from Dec. 12. "That could mean the latter part of 2009-10, or the start of 2010-11."

It is not unprecedented for teams to move their operations in the middle of a season. The Miami Heat moved from a very short distance from Miami Arena to American Airlines Arena in the middle of the 2001-02 season. Though when asked whether this is desirable for the Nets to follow suit, Baum merely replied, "It's a possibility."

NoLandGrab: Ratner's PR team had totally failed to manage expectations earlier in 2007  even though Atlantic Yards watchdog Norman Oder had already recognized the signs of a delay in the arena opening  and they're doing it again.

Spokesperson Barry Baum's attempt to spin the story is already leaning toward fiction  Norman Oder has already noted the signs that indicate that the arena opening would likely be delayed until at least January, 2011.